A significant number of crimes committed in today's age are related to money, and in particular cash money. For example, theft and robbery of cash at stores, banks, and other institutions that carry large amounts of cash is a common occurrence. Criminal enterprises often conduct their financial transactions using cash bills. The reasons for this are well known to law enforcement agencies. The most important reason is that cash transactions are exceedingly difficult for law enforcement agencies to track and trace. This gives the criminal enterprise some level of freedom to conduct the financial side of their “business” without fear of governmental inspection. A need accordingly exists to better assist law enforcement in monitoring individual, business and enterprise use of currency bills in a manner that allows for the tracking and tracing of currency flowing into and out of the accounts of criminal suspects.
While some techniques have been implemented to prevent the use of cash gained illegally, they are difficult to implement on a wide scale. For example, dye packs are used with cash stored in banks to dye stolen cash when it is stolen. However, it is impractical to use dye packs within point of purchase situation, such as within malls, grocery stores, and other stores. If the criminals that illegally take the cash could not use the cash at other stores—or if it became significantly harder for them to use the stolen cash at other stores—the motivation to commit theft or robbery of cash would decrease.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.